I Spent Over 5 Years in IT to Give You These 3 Pieces of Advice

Something that other “IT gurus” won’t tell you

A good friend of mine recently asked me a simple, but important question for anyone familiar with service-based work — “Does it make any sense to work with local customers or go straight on the international market?”

This question made me think for a while and I wanted to find the best answer possible. It was especially relatable to me because I was born and grew up in Kazakhstan—a third-world country with an average salary of $500.

Definitely not a large market to grow in, haha.

When I just started, I was working with some clients that paid $20–50 for a whole design and still weren’t satisfied with the results. I was working with some small companies for free. I was helping all of my fellow entrepreneurs. It was all just to get some understanding and experience.

As a result, I came up with 3 pieces of advice that I’d give myself as someone who went from having $50 clients to having $3,500 clients in over 5 years.

1. Start With Your Local Market or Network

I’m 100% sure that you need to start with your local market or your local network.